Cairo: An Egyptian television channel has aired what it called exclusive footage of the December arrest and interrogation of Australian Peter Greste and his al-Jazeera English colleague Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, who are now being held in a high-security prison awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.

The 22-minute video, broadcast on Sunday night by satellite channel al-Tahrir, was set to the soundtrack of the sci-fi film Thor: The Dark World.

As the dramatic film score plays, the cameraman filming the operation zooms in on items supposedly implicating al-Jazeera and its journalists in a conspiracy.

A screen grab from a BBC report by Peter Greste, an Al-Jazeera journalist who was arrested for aiding the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Photo: BBC

The video appeared to have been taken by police officers as they stormed the Qatar-owned global news network’s makeshift offices at the Marriott Hotel in an upmarket Cairo neighbourhood on December 29.

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The police were acting on orders to detain the two reporters, who were accused of conspiring with “terrorists” to fabricate news for the network’s English-language service.

Al-Jazeera denounced the video in a statement on Monday, describing it as an attempt to demonise its journalists and saying it could prejudice their trial.

“The video ridiculously sets images of our crew’s laptops, cameras and mobile phones against dramatic music," said Salah Negm, director of news for al-Jazeera English in a statement. "People who look beyond the propaganda, though, will see the video shows what we have been saying all along - that our crew were journalists doing their job."

The video offers a glimpse of the way Egypt’s military-backed authorities view the work of journalists, as well as the state’s efforts to drum up opposition to news agencies viewed as critical of the government.

Since the military deposed president Mohamed Mursi last summer, authorities have presided over a harsh crackdown on his Islamist supporters but also on leftist activists and journalists. Egyptian media, both state-owned and private, have helped push the government’s narrative.

Egyptians have denounced al-Jazeera English and its Arabic-language sister channel as mouthpieces for the Muslim Brotherhood, which was allied with Qatar during its brief time in power. The government, installed following the July 3 coup against Dr Mursi, recently labelled the Brotherhood a “terrorist organisation”.

Egypt’s public prosecutor has charged 20 people - including the two journalists arrested in the video - with manipulating clips to assist the “terrorists” in falsely depicting Egypt as a country in the midst of a civil war. Rights groups have called the charges a blow to freedom of the press.

“Where are your cameramen?” one security official, who does not appear on camera, is heard asking Fahmy, al-Jazeera’s Canadian-Egyptian producer.

Fahmy is shown with Greste, as police interrogate them at the hotel. Both are now detained at the Tora prison complex outside Cairo, where Fahmy is reportedly being held in an insect-infested cell in solitary confinement.

“When was the last time you went to Qatar?” the interrogator asks.

Among the evidence documented in the recording were standard supplies for a news bureau, including laptops, electrical cords and power strips, external hard drives and Greste’s business card.